10
In recommending these changes we have primarily in mind the need to move gradually towards a more 'open' Directorate in which inter-departmental movement becomes more common than at present. The scope for interchange between streams will, we recognise, remain limited on account of the specialist training and experience requirements of many posts. We believe, however, that it is important to provide a basic framework which will make practicable the filling of each post by the best man available irrespective of the career stream to which he belongs. Only in this way can promotional opportunities be evened out and best use made of the potential available throughout the public service.
The Judicial and Legal Directorate scale
11
We have always distinguished the Directorate structure for Judicial and Legal posts from that of the rest of the Directorate. This is to prevent comparisons where none are intended for we look upon the nature of responsibility of senior Judicial and Legal posts as different from those of most other areas of Directorate work.
12
We are satisfied that this remains a necessary and useful distinction, not diminished by our recommendations for a restructuring of Directorate posts. The scale will continue to contain 8 points.
The D1 and DJL1 rank level
13
When this Committee was originally set up, the present D1 rank was known as the "Upperscale" to distinguish it from the "Superscale". It was later decided to combine these but it can still be argued that the Government Directorate really starts with the Assistant Director rank. The growth in the Civil Service has meant a steady expansion in the number of posts for which this Committee is responsible and the setting up of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service has led us to consider whether there should now be any re-allocation of responsibilities.
14
The Committee operates by closely monitoring the grading of individual posts on an ad hoc basis in between overall reviews. When the Committee first began work in 1964 there were 237 Directorate posts in total. This figure has now risen to almost 800. We have therefore considered whether it is still practicable to apply this procedure to the largest ranks such as D1 and DJL1 which comprise about one-third of the total.
15
A possible alternative would be for these ranks to be reviewed by the Standing Commission. This would mean that changes to their pay would follow more directly than at present changes to the top of the Master Pay Scale. We invite Government to consider this possibility, and perhaps an appropriate time for any change would be when the Standing Commission next reviews staff on the Master Pay Scale. If this change is made we think it appropriate to provide this rank with an incremental progression. Meanwhile we have recommended a revised salary for the rank in the usual way.
5
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